Chicago Sun-Times – Comic Loves Audiences’ Honesty

Being a stand-up comedian means being immediately reviewed by audience members on whether something is funny or not. Kathleen Madigan, who will appear April 1 at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, finds the audiences’ honesty one of the most satisfying aspects of her career.

“My satisfaction in performing comes from the instant knowledge if something is funny or not and it’s brutally honest,” she said. “People may clap for a bad song, but they won’t fake laugh if something isn’t funny.”

Madigan has been making people laugh (the real thing, not a “fake” laugh) since she was a youngster.

“It’s funny, because everyone in my family is pretty funny,” Madigan said, “so I never thought making people laugh was a big deal. We all can kind of do it, so I don’t really remember thinking about it.”